Russia: Eurocement has completed a Euro3.3m maintenance project on the kiln at its Mordovcement plant in Chamzinsky District. The wet-process kiln was reconstructed as part of a large-scale modernisation program. Work conducted included replacement casing bandages, roller supports, the kiln chain curtain and the welding of cracks along the kiln shell. The project included a major relining of refractory material with magnesia bricks produced by the Magnezit Group and aluminosilicate refractory bricks produced by BKO. Maintenance work was also carried out on the plant’s FLSmidth Cross-Bar cooler.

Russia: Siberian Cement’s chair Oleg Sharykin has signed an agreement with the Sergey Tsivilev, the Governor of Kuzbass, to build a lime plant in the Kuzbass Special Economic Zone. The Euro23m project will create a 0.2Mt/yr lime plant with two kilns. The unit will use the Solominskoye limestone deposit, which is being developed by Topkinsky Cement, a subsidiary of Siberian Cement. Around 70 jobs are expected to be created. Russian lime production was reported at around 11Mt/yr from 2014 to 2020.

France/Germany: Cemex has introduced electric vehicles into the concrete mixer truck fleets of its subsidiaries in France and Germany. The El Financiero newspaper has reported that, if successful, the test may lead to continued introductions and tests of new prototype zero-emission concrete mixer trucks in its operations.

Australia: Boral has selected Earlytrade to digitise its supplier payment and progress claim processes. The supplier says that it will help protect Boral's supply chain against inflation and insolvency trends. It will roll out its early payment technology for 5000 suppliers of Boral products, as well as subcontractors, across Australia.

Sweden: Swecem has ordered a 10 000 S type road-mobile ship unloader from Bruks Siwertell for cement handling at the Port of Helsingborg. The unit will have a continuous cement unloading capacity of 300t/hr and is able to discharge vessels up to around 10,000dwt. It will be delivered fully assembled to the operator’s import terminal in May 2022.

US: Eco Material Technologies has successfully completed its acquisition of near-zero carbon cement alternatives producer Green Cement. Eco Material Technologies previously agreed to acquire Boral’s US fly ash business in December 2021, a transaction which it expects to conclude in 2022.

India: ACC has commissioned its Tikaria grinding plant in Uttar Pradesh after completing work to expand its capacity by 69% to 3.91Mt/yr. The plant will help ACC to serve the country’s increasing demand and increase its presence in Central India, according to the producer. The United News of India newspaper has reported that the company commenced the project in January 2021.

CEO and managing director Sridhar Balakrishnan said "ACC's strong belief and resilience in these difficult times enabled the team to commission the additional capacity at the Tikaria grinding plant. Meticulous planning and the collaborative approach of the Tikaria team has been the driving force in ACC’s setting a new benchmark in these unprecedented times."

Thailand: The Securities and Exchange Commission has approved Siam Cement Group (SCG)’s planned debenture issuance. Reuters News has reported that the value of the debenture is US$926m.

US: Argos USA has announced the upcoming transition of its Roberta, Alabama, cement plant to Portland limestone cement (PLC) Type IL production. By mid-2022, the company plans to produce 100% PLC at the 1.7Mt/yr plant. Its Durham, Statesville and Wilmington cement terminals in North Carolina will also transition to the exclusive distribution of PLC. The Roberta plant will directly serve customers in Alabama, Florida, Georgia and Mississippi.

Argos USA has also launched PLC production at its Harleyville, South Carolina, Newberry, Florida, and Martinsburg, West Virginia, cement plants. It aims to begin producing PLC at all of its cement plants nationally by 2024.

CEO Bill Wagner said "We are excited to announce the transition of the Roberta plant to 100% (PLC) Type IL. With this transition, we continue to support our customers and the industry on its road to lower greenhouse gas emissions. With PLC, we are supplying a more environmentally friendly building solution for our customers, engineered to deliver an outstanding quality and performance while lowering our carbon footprint.”

US: United States Lime & Minerals has announced its acquisition of Mill Creek Dolomite from InterRock Minerals. The value of the deal was US$6.4m.